We'll Keep You Safe
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: Jay panics and runs when he sees his birth parents at his school, which forces the Autobots to take more protective measures to keep the boy safe. Done as a request for EmeraldMoonGreen. :)


**EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Jay, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)**

 **Transformers Prime belongs to Hasbro. I own nothing.**

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 **We'll Keep You Safe**

Optimus quickly called an emergency meeting in the command center and the team quickly gathered there. "Sunstreaker, did you drop Jay off at school today?" Optimus asked.

"Yes, sir," Sunstreaker said. "I made sure he was inside the building before I left."

Soundwave noted Optimus was tense. "Optimus, is Jay alright?" He asked. "Are bullies bothering him?"

"Worse," the leader of the Autobots said. "The principal of Jay's school called me. Jay never made it to his first class."

Everyone else tensed up. "Are they searching for him?" Megatron asked worriedly.

"The principal, vice-principal, and the visiting policemen to the second-grade class searched the entire building," Optimus said. "They didn't find him."

Ratchet checked the communications and listened on the police frequencies. "There hasn't been a call about a young boy found," he said.

"Then where is Jay?" Sideswipe asked.

Megatron stood straighter. "Let's go find him," he said.

Wordlessly, everyone immediately transformed and headed out, keeping in tune with the police frequencies and scanners at max sensitivity.

Fortunately, there wasn't a report on the police scanner about Jay, which was a relief, but left the Autobots worried even more. The Twins began searching Jay's favorite places to go, but came up empty. Arcee and Knockout had no luck with the hospitals. The former 'Cons that could fly reported they hadn't seen anything and had combed the areas four times from the sky.

Optimus was growing more worried, especially after hearing there was no sign of Jay. Bulkhead noticed his leader getting more worried. "I'll go back to the school and look," he offered and Bumblebee accompanied him.

Ultra Magnus reported in that he, Wheeljack, and Smokescreen were still looking and had extended the search to out of town and towards the state lines. Optimus gave the okay for that and called the principal of the school again, who informed him that Jay hadn't returned and asked if Optimus wanted to involve the police, but the leader of the Autobots said he wasn't sure if Jay had been kidnapped and they had no solid leads as to where he was and if he and his team were having no luck, the police might not have any more luck than they were. The principal understood and also informed Optimus that the police chief was having his men search for Jay while they were on patrol. Thanking the principal, Optimus sat down heavily at his desk, wondering where Jay was.

Prowl, upset that he too had found no sign of Jay, turned to head back to base and was about to report in when he suddenly hit his brakes hard in shock.

Jay was walking along the desert road and was unharmed. Relieved, Prowl sent a comm to Optimus that he had found Jay and was going to bring him to base.

* * *

The boy heard someone pull up beside him and turned to find a familiar altmode beside him and saw Prowl stop and open up his door. "Young man, get inside. Now," the bot said sternly, not even seeing the boy was tense and upset.

Wordlessly, Jay got into the passenger side of Prowl's altmode and buckled up as Prowl began heading back to base. "Jason, you are in big trouble," Prowl said, his voice becoming much sterner now. "You better have a good explanation for making everyone worry themselves sick about you! Do you realize that you have…?"

That was as far as the Autobot got when he began to hear Jay hyperventilate and his biological signs were showing he was very stressed out. Seeing the boy reach for the door handle, Prowl automatically locked his doors, feeling Jay pull hard on the door handle in an attempt to get the door open and the boy was now struggling to breathe. "No! I'm sorry! Don't hurt me! Please! Let me out! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He heard Jay mutter over and over again as he began shaking uncontrollably like a leaf caught in a storm.

Prowl quickly realized the boy was having a severe panic attack and from the sentence he was muttering over and over again, Jay was also having a flashback. Now, it normally took a lot to scare Prowl, but this situation was thoroughly scaring him, especially with the boy looking so desperate to get away and was hyperventilating even worse now to the point the bot was worried Jay would pass out on him. "Jay, calm down," he tried to make his voice soothing. "I'd never hurt you. I need to get you back to base to your father."

That just sent Jay into more of a panic and Prowl increased his speed and flashed his lights, but didn't dare turn on his sirens as he was worried it would do more damage if Jay heard the loud alarm sound.

" _Prowl to Ratchet. Have sick bay ready. Jay is having a panic attack and I am unable to calm him down,"_ Prowl sent to Ratchet.

" _Ratchet to Prowl. Understood. ETA to base?"_

" _ETA: One minute. Prowl out."_

Prowl then turned his attention to again trying to calm Jay down, but had no luck, keeping his doors firmly locked until they reached base. Seeing everyone there, Prowl opened his passenger door.

The others began to panic a bit when they saw Jay tumble out, looking white as a sheet and making awful wheezing sounds as he struggled to get air in to breathe. "Prowl, what happened?" Optimus asked.

"He began having a panic attack when he heard how upset I was that he had made us all worry about him. It only grew worse and turned into a flashback as well," Prowl explained. "I tried to calm him down, but he's too far into his panic attack and flashback."

Worried, Optimus reached for Jay to pick him up, but the boy began crawling away from him, too scared to recognize his adoptive father as he backed himself into a corner, making it easier for Optimus to catch him.

As he held the boy in his hands, the leader of the Autobots brought Jay up to where his spark was and began speaking softly, trying to calm his son down, stroking the boy's head gently.

To everyone's relief, Jay began to calm down to where he could breathe normally and his biological signs were finally coming down to their proper levels. Giving the father and son some space, the others stood by, watching patiently while Arcee informed the principal that Jay had been found and was safe.

After a bit, Jay sat up with some help and continued to take some slow breaths before lifting his head, seeing everyone looking at him in concern. "Jay, are you alright?" Prowl asked in concern.

The boy nodded. "I'm okay," he said, leaning against the fingers that curled behind him to form a backrest for him.

Optimus gently cleared his throat. "Jay, where were you?" He asked. "We looked everywhere for you."

Jay shook his head. "Nowhere," he said.

"I'm not buying that," Optimus said, keeping his voice gentle. "Jay, where were you?"

The boy didn't answer for a moment. "I wasn't anywhere I wasn't supposed to be," he finally said.

A gentle finger poked his side, making him give a small giggle. "While I can see you're telling the truth about that, I need to know where you've been all day," the leader of the Autobots said as he continued gently tickling the boy.

Jay giggled, but to everyone's surprise, the boy didn't try to get away besides just try to protect his tickle spots. They watched their leader's son keep giggling before Optimus gave him a breather. "Jay?" Optimus asked him now.

The boy caught his breath and held on to Optimus' index finger. "Dad? Don't get mad, please?" He asked. "I know I shouldn't have cut school, but…,"

"Jay, you'd never cut school," Sideswipe said instantly. "We know that."

"If you left the school, you had a good reason, buddy," Sunstreaker said. "Were bullies bugging you?"

Jay shook his head and was quiet for a moment. "When Sunstreaker dropped me off, I was heading for my first classroom because I wanted to ask the teacher about a topic I had chosen for a report we had to do," he said. "But, when I was about to open the door…,"

The boy now began shaking. "I…I saw them. My…b-birth par-parents."

The Twins both stiffened instantly. "Did they hurt you?" Sideswipe asked.

Jay shook his head. "I didn't go in. I…I panicked and ran," he said.

"Where did you run to, Jay?" Prowl asked gently, keeping his voice soothing as he didn't want to unintentionally cause the boy to have another panic attack. "We couldn't find you anywhere."

"I have some hiding places outside of town," Jay admitted. "I went to one of them and I was too scared to come out or think of leaving until it started getting dark. There was a lady there, at my hiding place, which I later learned was one of her hideouts. She found me hiding there one night after my parents had beat me and I had run away, and when she saw the scar on my face, she was ready to call the police, but I begged her not to. In return, she made me promise that I'd immediately run to her hideout if my birth parents hurt me again. After that, I'd visit her and she'd ask if the abuse was still happening. I told her it wasn't so bad, but she respected my wishes to not involve the police."

"Jay, who is this lady?" Optimus asked.

"I don't know her name," the boy said. "I just call her 'ma'am'."

No one had noticed the Twins slip away from the group and a couple hours later, they were in the command center when not only the Twins returned, but so did Agent Fowler and another person.

Jay instantly recognized the other person. "Dad! That's her!" He said as he swiftly climbed down the stairs nearby. "This is the lady that let me stay at the hideout until Prowl found me."

The woman smiled. "Hello, Jay," she said pleasantly and glanced at their surroundings before nodding. "I've only heard rumors that something was here, but to see it with my own eyes. Wow."

Jay then grew worried. "Um, Mr. Fowler? If only you and a few of us are supposed to know about my dad's team and the base…?"

Agent Fowler smiled. "She's an agent, Jay. A spy agent," he explained.

The Twins transformed right then. "She was gathering evidence against Jay's parents and was ready to send it to the police when Agent Fowler led us to her hideout," Sideswipe said.

The lady spy smiled. "Your men even helped Agent Fowler and I gather the rest of what we needed as evidence," she said. "And they gave Jay's birth parents the scare of the century."

"All under legal procedures and approved by me," said Agent Fowler. "We found enough to get a restraining order against those people. My superiors are signing it as we speak. If Jay's abusive birth parents come within two hundred yards of Jay, they get sent to jail."

Optimus nodded. "Thank you, Agent Fowler," he said. "As for the Twins, they were helping Jay, so I'll overlook their leaving the base without authorization."

He then looked at the lady spy. "I'm glad my son found a friend in you, ma'am," he said. "Although, I am curious, if you are a spy…,"

"Even a spy needs a quiet hideout now and then," she answered with a smile. "But when I see any sign of abuse or crime, I can't turn a blind eye to it."

Agent Fowler gently cleared his throat. "Well, we need to head out," he said. "And Prime? I'm only speaking in concern for Jay, but it might be a good idea to have one of your men outside of Jay's school while he's there."

"I agree," Optimus said instantly.

Nodding, the Federal Agent offered his arm to the lady spy, who took it with a polite nod before she turned to Jay. "Take care of yourself, kid," she said.

"I will, ma'am. And…thank you," Jay said.

She smiled. "Anytime, partner," she said.

Prowl watched the lady spy go with the agent. "I wonder if he could persuade her to join us," he said.

Jay grinned. "Prowl, you've got it bad," he said.

The bot looked at him, raising an eyeridge at him. "What is 'it'?" He asked.

"You like her," Sideswipe said with a grin. "We do too. She kept our little brother safe."

"I think Prowl's got a girlfriend," Sunstreaker said.

Optimus cleared his throat, making them all stand at attention. "We have gained another ally, let's leave it at that," he said in a firm, gentle tone.

No one disagreed and Jay went up to his father, letting Optimus scoop him up and hold him protectively. The boy clung to his adoptive father's armor, knowing that he and the team would always keep him safe.

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 **Please leave a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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